People are dispersed throughout the twelve aisles of Amoeba, the legendary music store on Haight Street, but the World Music aisles are pretty empty. Far in the back of the store, however, an older man with salt and pepper hair and glasses is furiously searching through The French Collection, a selection of compilations of songs praising the beauty of Paris.

Looking through Amoeba's selection of music from France, everything can be found from classics like Edith Piaf and Serge Gainsbourg, all the way to 2003 reality television star winner Elodie Frégé. But one musical genre is clearly missing from this classic yet considerable selection. There is music from Greece, the Middle East, and Israel, but a quick turnaround presents what I am looking for: French hip-hop. Hooray! But apart from a 1991 out-of-print album from MC Solaar (Qui Seme le Vent Recolte le Tempo), the twenty-five album-long collections are not even the tip of the iceberg when it comes to French rap.

As the second largest consumer of hip-hop in the world after the United States, France became part of the musical and cultural movement in the early eighties, closely after it boomed in the United States. It started to develop in poor urban areas on the outskirts of large cities, known as "banlieues" (or suburbs), such as Paris and Marseille.

Anne Montastier grew up in Les Ulis, a suburb fourteen miles from Paris, from which many now famous rappers such as Sinik Diams Grodash (who earned international attention after his duet with James Blunt in "Je Réalise") started their career. She started listening to French hip-hop in the early nineties when she was just twelve or thirteen-years-old. Some of her favorite artists then include Ideal J, NTM, IAM, and other underground sounds. "French rap has its own identity," she says. "The culture is completely different [than the American hip hop culture]."

French rap really became popular and boomed in the early nineties with the release of historical albums such as IAM's Ombre et Lumiere (1993), or MC Solaar's Qui Seme le Vent Récolte le Tempo (1991).

Two types of hip hop emerged: a more mellow rap featuring artists such as MC Solaar or Doc Gynéco, and a more aggressive rap dominated by hardcore performers like Supreme NTM, a style reminiscent of American 'gangsta' rap. Although some beats may reflect American hip-hop, language plays a crucial part in French hip-hop and rappers like to mix up poetry and slang to create their own dialect. The phenomenon also made it to the screens with movies relating the hardships of banlieue life for young people, such as La Haine (Hate) or Ma 6-T va Crack-er (My City is Going to Crack), helping the movement grow and making it more of a commercial and popular genre than it used to be.

French rappers are overwhelmingly of African descent, and music is used to convey the struggle of growing up and living in the hood but also - and this is crucial to understand French hip-hop - to tackle the racial and cultural issues of the French society. "The music revolves around the idea of misery," Montastier says. "There are no implications with gangs." IAM's "Petit Frère" (little brother) talks about the struggles of living in poor neighborhoods, having to grow up fast and getting involved in criminal activities at a young age because of having been alienated from society. Arabic and African minority groups use hip-hop to redefine French identity and challenge societal norms.

In this context, French hip-hop is highly inspired by Northern and Central African beats as well as Caribbean rhythms. And as the genre evolves, the music becomes more ethnic by mixing straight rap with African music. New groups emerge such as Bisso Na Bisso, a collective of rappers from Congo who created a fusion of rap and African beats. The same idea helped develop a group of DJs called Rai'n'b fever, who are known for featuring Arabic singers with French rappers. 113's "Tonton du Bled" is the perfect example of this type of musical blend. In this song, Rim-K describes the road trip from the suburbs of Paris to Northern Africa, to spend the summer home, in Morocco, by adding traditional Arabic music to his hip-hop lyrics.

Although French hip-hop is growing stronger and reaching audiences in non French-speaking countries, most of these artists never make it to the United States, with the exception of MC Solaar, who showcased his talent as a guest singer on Missy Elliott's "All N My Grill," but mostly became popular among Sex And The City fans when his song "La Belle et Le Bad Boy" was featured in a 2004 episode of the show, and more recently on MTV's The Hills.

Ean Kemp remembers hearing Solaar for the first time and he is now one of his favorite French artists. When asked about not understanding most of the lyrics however, Kemp says: "I actually enjoy not understanding it because I can listen more to the music at first, not just the message." [X]